Should I be thinking about SEO keywords for my new business website?

The first thing you want to do perhaps even before you set up your business is to work out what keywords people are searching for.

Step 1: How to find the keywords to start searching

The first step is to just initially brainstorm some ideas and type them into Google. For this example I am going to pretend you are a flower designer based in Melbourne. You will normally see a few websites come up that are doing similar things to yourself. In this case I found these websites:

• https://www.flowerdesign.co.uk/
• https://www.floristry.com.au/
• https://www.aboutflowers.com/flower-a-plant-information-and-photos/flower-designs.html

Step 2: Be inspired by your competitors

The next step you want to do is view the source file of these websites and view what keywords they are targetting. You can do this by looking at their “Meta Keywords”; in this case this is what I found:

This gave me some ideas:

• Flower arrangements
• Flower bouquets
• Wedding flower design
• Bridal flower design
• Floristry design
• Online flower design
• Bridesmaid flower design
• Flower design Melbourne

These are a great starting point. While you are also looking at these competitor sites it would be a good idea to look at how they lay their site out and what services and products they are offering.

In particular, take a look at what calls to action they are using and how they are trying to convert visitors into customers. You can use that information when you go onto your website design stage.

Step 3: Get Google’s advice

Go to the Google Keyword tools and figure out what are the top keywords in your niche:

https://adwords.google.com.au/select/KeywordToolExternal

What you are looking for here is high traffic keywords that can drive loads of traffic to your website all year. Seasonal keywords (eg. Christmas floral arrangements) are okay, but all year performers are better. I would suggest you work on the seasonal ones after you have closed out the all year performers.

Overall tips:

• Try and target the bigger local searched keywords.
• Consider your local search if you are a local business, eg. “flower design Sydney”, as opposed to “flower design Australia” which is a more national keyword.
• The more searches for a keyword the better your website will perform in the long-term. You might not rank number one at the start, but if you focus on it, you want to set yourself up for the biggest catchment.

This article was first published on August 20, 2010.